FT86 Aftermarket Clutch Review

[Lemniscate]

Clutch: Exedy OE w/ 13lb moly flywheel, STi clutch fork, PDM TSK1 (TOB replacement & snout repair kit)
SC/T/NA: NA
MI/KM: ~40K miles (210K on chassis)
Power/TQ: stock
Lockout: no problems
Stiffness: stock
DD?: Yes
Review: installed everything after complete TOB failure (pedal went to floor and stayed there. Galling on the transmission snout caused the bearing assembly to hang up and overheat to glowing temps, which caused the plastic friction sleeve to fail, so when I pumped the pedal for the last time the cartridge cocked off the end of the snout and jammed into the spinning pressure plate where it eventually seized to the splines.) Repair kit solved the problem and I don't need to worry about the soft aluminum snout fouling another bearing.



Everything works. Factory feel with faster engine response.

[FN VanHoose]

First Clutch: ACT xtreme w/flywheel SB8-XTSS Stage 2
SC/FI/NA: SC Edelbrock
MI/KM: Around 55,000
Power/TQ: 307/239
Lockout: Yep
Stiffness: Hard
DD: I did it but I didn't enjoy it.
Would you buy again? Absolutely not
Review: This was my first experience at upgrading a clutch so there was a lack of experience. It did what I wanted it to do. It held the power with no issues and but I felt like I should have bigger calves for the strength I had to apply. After awhile I had lock out and hang up issues bad.

2nd clutch: Southbend Stage 2 Daily with OEM flywheel
SC/FI/NA: SC Edelbrock
MI/KM: Around 107k
Power/TQ: 307/239
Lockout: No
Stiffness: Sooofftt. Lighter than OEM I think. I thought something was wrong when I first drove it after getting used to the ACT.
DD: Yes
Would you buy again? Not sure yet...
Review: If this holds the power, I will be greatly impressed. After seeing the majority of people who had similar power/torque to me go with this setup and being happy with it, I decided it would be perfect. I'm in the break-in period and so far I haven't gotten used to the difference yet. Once I hit 1000 miles to get it good and broken in (I think 750 is the recommendation but I'll do a little more just to be safe), I will really hammer down on it and report back how it does. I have high hopes!

**Update**
Got to 750. Recommendation was 550 break in. It was pretty on par with other what the others said. It holds the power fine. I put it through some hell and didn't have any issues. Highly recommend.

[dpfarr]

People using south bend with an oem flywheel, is that pretty much the better decision?

[Drifter X]

Originally Posted by FN VanHoose

2nd clutch: Southbend Stage 2 Daily with OEM
Stiffness: Sooofftt. Lighter than OEM I think. I thought something was wrong when I first drove it after getting used to the ACT.

**Update**
Got to 750. Recommendation was 550 break in. It was pretty on par with other what the others said. It holds the power fine. I put it through some hell and didn't have any issues. Highly recommend.

Wow are you serious?! This is what I’m looking for. OEM feel, but holds the additional power. I had ACT before and I hated it also.

[EndlessAzure]

Clutch: Factory OEM Exedy
SC/T/NA: NA (Stock & FBO FF)
MI/KM: ~120k mi + 25 track days
Power/TQ: Stock / ~200 whp/160 wtq
Lockout: None
Stiffness: OEM
DD?: Y
Would you buy again: Y
Review: OEM clutch. Not much to say about it, other than it works. The original TOB showed signs of issues around 60k mi (which was confirmed upon removal; still functioned but did not run smooth/spin free). Replaced it with with ACT kit for a while, but then reinstalled it with revised TOB around 70k mi. It trucked along until I removed it at 130k miles after 25 track days. It still had life upon removal with some minor wear despite being beat on for so long; the revised TOB was in good health and ran smooth upon last removal (~60k mi of use).


Clutch: ACT Stage 1 Street Clutch /w Streetlite Flywheel [ACT HB7-HDSS]
SC/T/NA: NA (FBO FF)
MI/KM: 9k mi + 1 track day
Power/TQ: ~200 whp/160 wtq
Lockout: Yes, encountered clutch drag about 5k mi into ownership, see THREAD
Stiffness: OEM +20%ish
DD?: Yes, though with the typical challenges of a lightweight flywheel
Would you buy again: N
Review: Really enjoyed the response of the lightweight flywheel and bite of the pressure plate+clutch disk. High NVH: chattered loudly on idle and contributed severe vibrations when lugging the engine. However, quickly ran into quality issues. Notably the kit would sometimes screech when warm and coasting downhill (never figured out why). Soon, the kit started to display clutch drag especially after warming up which slowly got worse. Removed and sent it back to ACT for inspection, but they said nothing was wrong with it. Went back to OEM after.


Clutch: Exedy Racing Lightweight Flywheel [TF02] + Racing Stage 1 Organic Clutch Kit [15806]
SC/T/NA: NA (FBO FF)
MI/KM: 10k mi + 7 track days (to date) --> UPDATE total of 3yrs/32k mi + 18 track days (died/removed)
Power/TQ: ~200 whp/160 wtq
Lockout: None
Stiffness: OEM +15% ish
DD?: Yes, though with the typical challenges of a lightweight flywheel
Would you buy again: Y
Review: Wanted to relive the responsiveness of a lightweight flywheel, and with high mileage looming, decided to upgrade from OEM at around 130k mi. Above average NVH: light chatter on idle/coast/AC usage but not nearly as pronounced as ACT NVH. A nice, driveable upgrade from OEM that has better bite and heat capability (advertised) for performance driving. The bite is still quite tame and similar in profile to OEM, certainly a more reserved compared to the ACT kit's. Blending with throttle is smooth, but sometimes not as grabby/sporty as I'd like for a given pedal position. This character is especially pronounced when trying to maneuver on low speed inclines (e.g. hill parallel parking): combined with lightweight flywheel, it can lead to a tendency to overslip the clutch in such situations. Otherwise no issues so far.
---
Review UPDATE 202606: After beating on it some more, the system finally bit the dust. I definitely wasn't kind to the clutch. I didn't put many miles on the car as before, but I kept tracking it and I heel-toed the car every chance I had. I also burned it pretty good a handful of times over the 3 years it was installed - drifting and launching. Recently, I did an ~80% launch from a dead stop and ran the clutch slipping at medium-to-high revs for a short while. It wasn't a particularly hard launch, but this time around the clutch didn't seem to lock up like I expected it to, which caused me to let the clutch slip/burn way longer than it should before I noticed. I tried to cool it off with easy driving for about 15 minutes before retiring for the day. Over the following couple of weeks, I noticed the clutch didn't grab as hard as it used to and the friction didn't seem to recover at all over that time. It also regularly let off the characteristic burning clutch smell even after easy drives around town. Also for a good while before this event (I'm not sure exactly when - probably around 1.25 years into my time with the clutch), the clutch had started juddering at low speed when cold and squeaked when dropping gears at full tilt. I didn't think much of it over the years, but it was an indication of what I would observe next.
-Within a couple of weeks after that, I got around to dropping the transmission and inspecting/removing the clutch. When I pulled the clutch out, it was severely hot spotted across almost the entire face of both the flywheel and pressure plate, with a recent formed inner wear ring. The friction disk had plenty of life left. It was reasonable to conclude that the loss of clutch grab/function was due to the lifetime accumulation of hot spotting.
-The hot spotting I saw on my LWFW+Stg1 clutch was night-and-day compared to what I saw on my stock clutch. I was hoping for the LWFW+Stg1 clutch to last at least as long as the stock clutch did. The difference in condition/longevity may have been a result of my abusing the clutch and/or the possibility that the Stg1 friction disc isn't well suited for the clutch/use case. Despite the fact that I enjoyed the LWFW+Stg1 clutch while I had it, I probably won't buy it again since it seemed to struggle with the heat and abuse. Something with semi/metallic friction disc might handle the abuse a bit better, so I'm thinking about giving the Exedy Hyper Single VF a try next.

[fminicooper]

Originally Posted by DarkPira7e

Clutch: Exedy Stage 1
SC/T/NA: Turbo
MI/KM: 5,000 miles
Power/TQ: 330/260
Lockout: None
Stiffness: Slightly stiffer than stock
DD?: Feels like any sports car from the 90s, definitely doable day to day
Would you buy again: definitely
Review: Feels like stock but with more authority. No noise, no skipping or hopping in traffic, no noise. Used with stock flywheel.

OEM clutch needs replacing.
NA engine running an OFT2 tune and 40K miles on the odometer
Clutch has endured thousands of miles of track abuse in the Texas heat.

Here are my questions and considerations for replacemet.

If I go with an Exedy Stage 1 clutch, do I need to change the flywheel, or can I reuse it?

Do I need the Verus clutch fork and pivot?

Do I need a braided line for the hydraulic system? Or just keep OEM?

[blsfrs]

Originally Posted by fminicooper

OEM clutch needs replacing.
NA engine running an OFT2 tune and 40K miles on the odometer
Clutch has endured thousands of miles of track abuse in the Texas heat.

Here are my questions and considerations for replacemet.

If I go with an Exedy Stage 1 clutch, do I need to change the flywheel, or can I reuse it?

Do I need the Verus clutch fork and pivot?

Do I need a braided line for the hydraulic system? Or just keep OEM?

For my na powered street/track car, I stayed with the stock replacement Exedy clutch. Best price was a kit from Ralley sport direct. I already had the Verus fork and pivot. I still have my original line.

[DarkPira7e]

Originally Posted by fminicooper

OEM clutch needs replacing.
NA engine running an OFT2 tune and 40K miles on the odometer
Clutch has endured thousands of miles of track abuse in the Texas heat.

Here are my questions and considerations for replacemet.

If I go with an Exedy Stage 1 clutch, do I need to change the flywheel, or can I reuse it?

Do I need the Verus clutch fork and pivot?

Do I need a braided line for the hydraulic system? Or just keep OEM?

I used mine with stock flywheel, fork, pivot, etc. no need to overcomplicate anything. The pressure plate isn't crazy, it's not going to hurt the fork.